


dreaming

by marshie_marshmallow



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Dimilix Week (Fire Emblem), Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, background established edelgard/claude, not. super romantic despite what i originally wanted it to be, post-silver snow route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22732117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marshie_marshmallow/pseuds/marshie_marshmallow
Summary: In the year 2180, a class takes a trip to an art gallery to see the works of Ignatz Victor.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 10
Kudos: 89
Collections: 2020 Dimilix Week





	dreaming

**Author's Note:**

> for dimilix week day 2: reincarnation au
> 
> *screams* this thing has gone through so many rewrites and moving scenes and adding scenes and deleting scenes and *screams again*. anyway it didn't turn out anything like i originally planned.  
> just take it.

It all started when their Art History class took a trip to the nearby gallery. They were studying Ignatz Victor and the gallery had an event displaying many of the man's most famous pieces. So, the entire senior year class got loaded up on school buses after lunch and drove to the gallery. While art history wasn't exactly Dimitri's favorite class, he couldn't deny a certain level of interest at the trip.

“I downloaded the gallery's app. They've got an entire section about the Victor Display,” Edelgard said as they walked into the gallery, head bent over her phone.

“Aw... you're really gonna be looking at your phone the whole time, princess?” Claude said from where he had been teasing poor Ignatz for sharing a name and hobby with the famous artist. “That's no fun.”

She looked up to give him a stern glare, flipping brown hair over her shoulder. “I'm going to be using my phone to _pull up information on the pieces we see_. I’ll have you know I originally downloaded it because I was thinking the two of us could come here alone but it loses its charm now that we’re here on a field trip.”

“I was joking but… aw, I guess this really has been ruined as a potential date, hasn’t it?”

“ _Please_ stop discussing your relationship in front of me,” Dimitri muttered.

“Are you getting jealous again?” Edelgard asked.

“ _No._ I’m not jealous. Can we just… keep moving and go… look at the paintings like we’re supposed to?”

The gallery display was split into two sections: Victor's religious paintings and his historical paintings. According to the biography on the app, Victor had been a devoted man, hence the religious paintings. He was also a former soldier who had fought in the War of Unification, which was the basis for his historical paintings. He had been one of very few to walk away from the Bloodbath at Gronder alive and in one piece.

“This one's _The Great Saints_ ,” Edelgard read out as they stood in front of a painting of two green-haired women. “Saint Seiros, Saint Cichol, Saint Cethleann, Saint-”

“I know the names of the saints, El,” he interrupted. “Unlike you, I actually go to church.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know. It gives me a couple of hours free of you every week. Anyway, this is notably the only time he painted the male saints. He was, it seems, quite enamored with the female ones, though, as well with the goddess herself.”

“So he was horny for religious women!” Hilda said from Edelgard’s other side.

“I-” Edelgard started, brow furrowing as she looked up from her phone. “I. Don't know how to respond to that.”

“Hey, check this one out!” Claude called from further down the gallery, only to be immediately shushed by Lorenz. Regardless, the siblings shrugged and wandered over, Hilda in tow.

The painting in question was of a massive battlefield. Faceless people fought amidst flames and blood. In the center of the painting, three people stood. On the left was a woman in red armor with white hair, wielding a sinister-looking axe. The figure in the middle was a man with darker skin than the other two, wearing gold and wielding a bow. The last figure, the one on the right, was an unkempt blonde man in black armor with a huge cape. He wore an eyepatch and wielded a large lance.

It was this last one that caught Dimitri’s attention the most.

“ _The Red Fields of Gronder_ ,” Edelgard read out loud. “Oh, it's Victor's rendition of the Bloodbath. I guess if he was one of the only survivors, it makes sense that he would paint it… Try to preserve it as he saw it rather than random people’s renditions.”

“Who're the people?” Hilda asked, gesturing to the central figures.

“It says-”

“They were the major political leaders of the War of Unification,” Felix interrupted, walking up to stand next to Dimitri. “Edelgard von Hresvelg, Claude von Riegan, and Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd.” He gestured to each of the figures in turn.

“The Flame Emperor, the Master Tactician, and the Mad Prince,” Edelgard replied. “I’m surprised that you know their names off the top of your head, Felix.”

He shrugged. “I did research on some of the paintings that were going to be on display beforehand. I was… intrigued by the idea of seeing Victor’s art up close.”

“And here I thought you hated this class.”

“I do. I _wanted_ to take Music History.”

“So... whose gonna be the guy to point out that the names Felix just listed off are _our_ names?” Claude asked. “The first names, anyway.”

“You, apparently,” Hilda replied. “That's weird, though. Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude... And now I can sort of see some resemblances between you guys and the dudes in the painting. If you were all a bit older and... Hey, Edelgard, you ever considered dying your hair white?”

“Absolutely not,” was the response.

“They’re not that similar,” Felix said.

“Really?” Hilda asked. “Cause it looks like they all even have the same _eye_ color. The hair color thing with Edelgard and the fact that Dimitri in the painting has an eyepatch are the biggest differences. That and that they’re all, like, adults.”

Claude snapped his fingers. “Just remembered what it made me think of. There’s some kind of legend that says that a bunch of people from the War of Unification are supposed to be reincarnated one day. You mostly find it on conspiracy websites and such.”

“Ha! Weird. What do you guys think?”

“I think I have more important, _real-world_ issues to worry about than some stupid conspiracy,” Edelgard said. “Besides, if you and I _were_ reincarnated historical figures best known for going to war with each other, I would think it would make our current relationship rather awkward.”

“I think it’s bullshit.” Felix shoved his hands deep into his jacket pockets.

“What do you think, Dimitri?” Claude asked.

Dimitri blinked, then looked at him. “I don’t… I don’t know. It’s a bit… far-fetched, isn’t it?”

“He says that because the Sothis faith doesn’t believe in reincarnation,” Edelgard said.

“Weird,” Claude said. “I could’ve sworn the theory originated because of some legend involving the Sothis religion.”

“No…” Dimitri said. “Scripture states that those who die go to live with the goddess in the heavens. I’ve sat through enough sermons to be able to say that for certain.”

“Well, whatever. There are some faiths that believe in reincarnation. Really, I just thought it was a cool painting.”

“I’m going to check out the one about the fall of Garreg Mach,” Edelgard said, turning away and not lifting her gaze from her phone. “Someone about this one freaks me out.”

“I’ll come with you,” Claude said as he followed. “Honestly, interesting as it is, something about it has been bothering me, too.”

Hilda made some kind of noise as she walked away, leaving Felix and Dimitri alone. Dimitri made no motion to move, transfixed by the painting.

“What're you looking so serious for?” Felix asked.

Dimitri blinked, licking his lips. “Something about this painting feels... familiar.”

“Eh, you've probably seen it in an art book or something. I think it’s one of Victor’s more famous pieces.”

He shook his head. “No... That's not it. When I look at the painting I feel like I can... imagine. What it was like there at Gronder.”

Felix went silent for a moment before replying. “Don’t tell me you actually _do_ believe Claude.”

“No, it’s not… I don’t... I don’t believe in reincarnation. I...” He squinted at the right figure, that of the prince. “... I’ve always heard of the last prince of Faerghus referred to as the Mad Prince when he’s discussed, so it never quite occurred to me before now that we share a name.”

“... History could have given the guy a kinder epithet. Nobody remembers him except for his failures.” Felix stared up at the painting as well, an unreadable expression on his face. “Anyway, it's just a weird coincidence. As is Claude sharing his name with the Master Tactician, Edelgard sharing hers with the Flame Emperor, and Ignatz sharing a name and hobby with this damn _artist._ ”

“That's... a lot of coincidences.”

“Yeah, well... Maybe the names are just coming back into popularity a thousand years later for some reason.” He turned on his heel. “I'm going back to the religion section. Flayn looks like she’s bothering people about Saint Cethleann again.”

Felix didn’t say anything else as he walked away. Dimitri was left alone, staring up at the painting and wondering what the odd feeling settling in his chest was.

* * *

That night was when the dreams started.

* * *

Dimitri wasn’t involved in the school theater, though Seteth had tried to get him to consider joining because he had no extracurriculars. He wasn’t much of an actor and the backstage work didn’t appeal to him much either. The only reason he walked into the backstage of the auditorium was that he had offered to deliver a new script copy to Annette, as they had to print up a new one after she had well and truly lost hers.

“You didn’t look at it, did you?” she said accusingly as Manuela continued leading Ferdinand, Lorenz, and Dorothea in voice exercises behind her. “Nobody but the cast and some of the crew is supposed to know the script before the performance night.”

“ _No_ , Annette, I didn’t read it,” he replied.

“Good.” She clutched the script in her arms and scurried back to Manuela.

He was about to turn around when he spotted Felix sitting at a table in the corner of the backstage. Curious, he wandered over. The table was covered in scissors, stencils, construction paper, pencils, and glue. If he wasn’t fully aware that Felix was seventeen, he’d be inclined to think it was the result of a little child doing arts and crafts.

“What are you doing?” he asked, despite the fact that Felix had earbuds in and was humming along to whatever was playing.

Felix looked up and pulled one of his earbuds out. “Dimitri. What are you doing here?”

“They printed out a new script copy for Annette and I offered to bring it over here.” He gestured to the construction paper. “What are you doing?”

“Prop construction. Hey, do me a favor and tell me: does this look like a fireball?”

Dimitri squinted at the object Felix was holding up. “It looks like red, orange, and yellow construction paper cut into fireball-reminiscent shapes and glued together.”

“Is that a no?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because Dorothea wants everything to be perfect for the fight scene but the teachers vetoed her idea of using actual fire magic. They think we’ll burn down the building.”

“I’m not sure construction paper fireballs are ‘perfect.’ Wouldn’t it make more sense to crumple up tissue paper into balls or something? Then it’s at least three-dimensional.”

Felix stared at him, then smacked himself in the face with his hand. “That _would_ be a better option, wouldn’t it?” he muttered. “In my defense, the construction paper wasn’t my idea. I was just doing what I was told to do.”

“I’m still amazed that Dorothea talked you into getting involved in the musical, even if it’s just as crew.”

“Eh, I didn’t require too much convincing. I like theater. I’d never go on stage myself but they needed extra hands back here.” He shrugged. “You know, people are gonna get upset with you if you overstay your welcome. You’re either gonna be kicked out or forcibly conscripted into work.”

“I can’t say I’m too thrilled with that, I’ll be honest. Though, it might get Seteth to stop bothering me about extracurriculars,” Dimitri replied as he pulled out the chair next to Felix’s and sat down.

“You _still_ don’t have any? … And _both_ the people you’re living are in two each, aren’t they?”

“ _Dedue_ is in two clubs. Not that Seteth would get on his case too much anyway since he’s an exchange student. Edelgard is... a class representative, basketball team, _volleyball_ team, and then there’s all her activism work. Compared to them, my schedule is rather lacking.”

“Meaning you don’t have any.”

“I’m just… not sure what I should do. I don’t really have any hobbies or anything… I don’t know how Edelgard does all that. Not to mention the fact that she’s keeping top grades in AP classes and somehow maintaining enough of a social life to even have a _boyfriend_.”

“You sound jealous.” Felix shrugged. “Well, I don’t particularly care what you do or don’t do with your spare time. If you want to join the theater crew or, I guess, be forcibly recruited into it, we could always use another set of hands. _Someone_ needs to help Cyril build that paper-mache tree.” He motioned to where the ninth-grader in question was standing on a stepladder, gluing newsprint to a wooden frame.

“... Does the tree _need_ to be three-dimensional? Is it not just going to be part of the backdrop?”

“It needs to be able to fit a person in it but if I reveal anything else about the plot to you, Dorothea will murder me in my sleep.”

“I know two vague things about what your props are being used for. Hardly any kind of shocking plot details.”

“Do you think she’ll care precisely what it is you know? Because I think she’ll be mad that you know anything at all.”

“... You’re probably right.”

“Oi! Dimitri!” He turned his head to see Hilda approaching. “What are you doing back here? You’re not involved in this!”

He stood up awkwardly. “I was just… talking with Felix. I came by to drop something off and I-”

“Are you done? Did you drop it off?”

“Yes.”

She waved her arms at him. “Then shoo! Unless you want to help me sew costumes, shoo!”

He raised his arms awkwardly in front of him. “Alright, I’m leaving. I’ll talk to you later, Felix.”

Felix just made a vague noise of acknowledgment as he put his earbuds back in.

* * *

_A field stained red with blood. Soldiers clashing blades. Fire and smoke and heat._

_Dimitri didn’t look around. Didn’t turn his head at all. He knew his target and nothing would stand in his way. He needed to find her. He wouldn’t let her get away this time._

_He stopped to look around, trying to locate his target again. His eye - only one, for some reason - caught on a swordsman in blue cutting a swathe through red-clad soldiers._

_The part of Dimitri that recognized that this was a dream thought the man looked strikingly familiar._

* * *

“Edelgard has extra volleyball practice for their upcoming match,” Dimitri said, library book clutched against his chest, as Dedue placed textbooks back in his locker. “So she’s not coming home with us.”

“I have a Gardening Club meeting,” Dedue replied.

“Then I suppose I’m going back alone. I’ll wait for you at the house, then.”

Dedue nodded as he closed the locker. “Farewell, then.”

As Dimitri walked away, opposite the direction Dedue was heading, he turned a corner and spotted Felix and Flayn in a dark stairwell together. They looked to be having some kind of hushed conversation, which Dimitri couldn’t deny he was curious about. Those two had always gotten along eerily well. Felix wasn’t known for making friends but, once Flayn transferred to their school the year prior, he had immediately taken to her.

Flayn was a bit of an anomaly in her own right. Her brother, the school counselor, looked about old enough to be her father. Her sister was known for giving odd advice or gifts to students at the school and her aunt, the priestess at Dimitri’s church, may look old enough to be _her_ aunt but certainly not Seteth’s. All of that wasn’t even getting into Flayn’s own quirks, such as her love of fish, her patchwork-at-best understanding of technology, her antiquated speech patterns or her strange devotion to Saint Cethleann.

Mostly, though, Dimitri was staring at Felix.

He had first met Felix in middle school. Dimitri and his family had moved to Myrddin City when his father married Edelgard’s mother and that’s when they met most of their friends. Despite that, it often felt like he had known Felix for much longer than that. He got a similar sense from Dedue and Ingrid, the latter of whom he barely ever spoke to, but it was most pronounced with Felix. As if Dimitri had known him all his life.

“Spying, Dimitri?”

He startled as Claude came up from behind him. There was a clatter as the library book fell to the floor, which apparently finally caught Flayn and Felix’s attention. Felix glanced up, made a face that was so clearly one of irritation that Dimitri could make it out even with the distance between them, then grabbed Flayn’s wrist and pulled her up the stairs.

“Aw… You’re jealous, aren’t you?” Claude asked.

Dimitri flushed. “What? No!”

“Aw, come on. You can’t seriously expect me to believe you haven’t been crushing on Felix for, like, two years now. You’re jealous that Flayn’s going after him, aren’t you?”

Dimitri desperately tried to search for something to rebut with but his mind was drawing a blank.

Apparently sensing his discomfort and panic, Claude eased off. Instead, he leaned down and picked up the book off the floor. “You dropped this.”

“Oh… thanks,” Dimitri replied as he slowly took it back.

“Didn’t know you had an interest in Almyran history,” Claude said, glancing at the cover. “What brought this on?

“I… I had a strange dream the other night. A battlefield on fire… and a man on the back of a wyvern with a bow in hand, flying through the air above me. And I remembered that wyvern-back archery is largely an Almyran technique, so I...”

“Got curious why your subconscious might have pulled _that_ up?”

“I suppose."

Claude tapped his chin. “That’s a weird thing to be dreaming about, though. I mean, it’s still a thing in Almyra but it’s largely traditional. Ceremonies and festivals and for sport. A way of keeping history alive. It’s not seriously used as a battle technique anymore. Technology’s come a bit too far for it to keep up as a viable tactic. So the fact that you say it was a battlefield _specifically_...”

“There’s no doubt it was a battlefield but all the soldiers were using outdated tactics and weapons. I also recall pegasus knights and people on horseback and swordsmen… People in heavy metal plate armor…”

“Dude, your subconscious imagination sounds wild.”

“I don’t understand it, either. I’ve been having dreams along those lines for a little over a week now. The first one was the night after the gallery trip, so I assumed it was simply a result of the paintings of the war still being on my mind but then it happened every night after that, too.”

Claude linked his arms behind his head and grinned. “To be honest, I couldn’t name what the deal is there. It’s an odd situation, to be sure. Maybe it’ll blow over with time.”

“I hope so. The dreams aren’t entirely pleasant.”

“I mean, you’re dreaming about a war, right? No way for that to really ever be a pleasant dream.”

“I suppose not.”

Claude checked his watch, then looked up. “Speaking of archery, I’ve got practice soon.”

“Ah, right. I forget you… How long have you been doing archery?”

Claude gave him an odd look. “Uh… I don’t know. Since forever. It’s just always felt right, you know? Anyway, I gotta get going. Catch up with you later!” He ran off without another word.

Once again alone, Dimitri glanced a moment longer at the stairwell where Felix and Flayn had been, before shaking his head and continuing down the halls. There was no reason to focus on that. It was none of his concern what they got up to.

* * *

_“What are you staring at?” Felix - was that Felix? Or just a dream wearing his face? - asked._

_He wasn’t older, like in most dreams. This Felix looked about the same age as the one that Dimitri knew in reality. He wore a uniform of some kind. It had to be a uniform, based on how many faceless people around them wore the same or at least similar clothing._

_“Ah,” Dimitri said, mouth moving on its own. “You’re speaking to me.”_

_“I am. Because you’ve been_ **_staring_ ** _at me.”_

_“My apologies. I was simply admiring your sword forms.”_

_Felix scowled. “If you want to observe someone’s swordplay, pick someone else. The Black Eagles professor. Or Catherine. Just not me.”_

_“I… my apologies. I did not mean to disturb you.”_

_“Whatever. Just leave me alone.”_

* * *

“We’ll need to make a stop on the way to the library,” Flayn said with the straw of her iced coffee still in the corner of her mouth. “My sister left something at home and I need to get it to her. Which means she now no longer gets to yell at the rest of _us_ for losing our stuff, which she always did before.”

The ‘stop,’ as it turned out, was a gym. More than that, it was one Dimitri had been to before, though not to make use of the facility. No, this was where Felix practiced his kickboxing. Evidently, it was where Flayn’s sister did, too, as he found himself being dragged to that section of the gym.

“You didn’t have to come,” Flayn’s sister said when they approached her. “Though I appreciate it. And… I see you have a tag-along.”

“This is Dimitri,” Flayn said. “You have not met, have you?”

“I’ve seen him at your school but we’ve never been properly introduced,” she said as she extended a hand. “Byleth Greene.”

Dimitri shook it, a bit awkwardly. “Dimitri Boehler.”

“Boehler?” Byleth tilted her head.

“Yes…? Why? Do you know someone else with that surname?”

“Oh. No. It’s nothing. Never mind.” She turned to Flayn. “What are you two doing together?”

“We are on our way to the public library, for I am tutoring Dimitri in mathematics,” Flayn said proudly. “The teacher of the class asked me to do so.”

Byleth gave them an amused look, which Dimitri had the good sense to be sheepish about. Flayn was well-known to have had a spotty education at best but she was undeniably better at math than him. Clearly, Byleth knew this.

“Well, I hope you’re a good tutor.” She turned back to Dimitri. “Take this.” She pressed a training weight into his hands. Where she had been keeping it, he had no idea.

“But we’re not here to-” he started but trailed off at the eager look on her face. “Thank you, I suppose?”

Her face fell. “I thought you’d like it.”

“I don’t… dislike it?”

“Sister, I do not think Dimitri has any particular reasons in his life to favor such gifts,” Flayn said.

Byleth looked disappointed.

“Um, Flayn, what are you talking about?” Dimitri asked.

“It is nothing, Dimitri. Forget it.” Flayn reached into a pocket of her shoulder bag and pulled out an absolutely _ancient_ -looking eagle pendant. “Here, sister. I have brought it.”

“That’s what we had to stop here for?” Dimitri asked. It seemed a bit silly to go out of their way to drop off a piece of jewelry.

“Sorry about that,” Byleth said, taking the pendant and tucking it into the pocket of her shorts. “It’s something of a good-luck charm. A friend gave it to me ages ago and I get a bit frantic when I don’t have it on me.”

“Then perhaps you should keep better track of your belongings, sister,” Flayn replied. “Just as you are always telling us to do.”

“I didn’t _lose it_ , Flayn. I forgot to bring it with me.”

“As if there is a difference!”

“There is. Because I knew damn well where it was. It just wasn’t with me. It’s not the same as you losing your map by the fishing pond or Seteth losing his fishing rod in the cathedral.”

Dimitri was curious as to why Seteth would ever have had a fishing rod in a cathedral in the first place.

As the two sisters started arguing on the semantics of actually losing something versus simply forgetting it at home, he glanced around the gym. He wasn’t searching for anything in particular. He was simply giving them the privacy to bicker on their own. However, it meant he noticed immediately when Felix walked in.

“Dimitri?”

“Hello,” Dimitri said.

“What are you doing here?” Felix glanced down at his outfit. “I hope you weren’t planning on working out dressed like that. You’ll overheat.”

“Oh, I’m here with Flayn.” He nodded over to where Flayn and Byleth were still arguing. “We were dropping something off for her sister before we go to the library.”

“Ah, right. She mentioned that she had been asked to tutor you.”

“Only in math…”

Felix shrugged. “What are they fighting about over there?”

“Whether or not Byleth leaving her necklace at home counts as ‘losing it.’ They do not seem interested in making this a very quick argument.”

“I know Byleth. She can talk circles around someone for hours. But then sometimes you won’t hear a word out of her all day.”

“It’s weird, though.”

“What is?”

“Ah… um… I’ve been having these strange dreams recently. And I swear Byleth was in them. I’ve seen her with her family before and I think I’ve read somewhere that every face you see in your dreams is one you’ve seen before but still… It’s odd.”

Felix’s eyes narrowed. “... Dreams?”

“Yes… You look displeased.”

“It’s nothing. You’re probably right. It’s just your subconscious using her face as a stand-in.”

“Are you okay?”

“It’s nothing. Are you leaving anytime soon?”

“Are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong?”

“What? I- No, it’s not that.” Felix rubbed the back of his neck. “Can we… find something else to discuss. I don’t really want to be talking about dreams.”

“Why? Did something-”

He glared at Dimitri. “I _said_ I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Right. Sorry.” Dimitri cast around for an unrelated topic. “... How are you doing with your history essay?” That was painfully forced but it was the first thing he could think of.

Felix was silent.

“You… _have_ started it, haven’t you?”

More silence.

“Felix. It’s due in three days.”

“Have _you_ started it?”

“Of course I have. I’m almost finished with the final draft. I _do_ try to stay on top of my schoolwork and, besides, Edelgard gets on my case if I don’t start all my assignments in a timely manner.”

“She seems the type,” Felix muttered. “Look, essay writing just… isn’t my thing.”

Dimitri was tempted to comment on Felix’s usual disdain for Edelgard but that wouldn’t improve the conversation any. It’d have the opposite effect, really. “I… Do you need help with it?”

“Are you offering help?”

“Yes. Are you free tomorrow night? You could come to my house and we could try to work something out.”

“I- Well, I can’t think of any reason to refuse and not handing anything in is just going to get me a zero and yelled at. But are you really sure you’ll be able to help me much?”

“Surely, I can help enough so you can at least put something down.”

“Then fine. I’ll come by tomorrow. It looks like they’ve calmed down.” He nodded over to Flayn and Byleth. “Guess you’ll be leaving now.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah.” As Dimitri began to head for the door, Felix called after him.

“Oh. About those dreams that you’ve been having?”

“What about them?”

“... I’m pretty sure they’re not anything you should be taking notice of. Probably best to just put them out of your mind.”

* * *

_The older Felix sat on a boulder, one leg pulled up across the other as he sharpened his blade and watched Dimitri through his eyelashes._

_“We’re all gonna die because of you.”_

_Dimitri didn’t respond._

_“It would have made more sense to go with the church’s army back to Garreg Mach and consolidate our forces. We’re both short on troops and we’re both fighting the Empire. It’s only logical. From there, we could potentially even reach out to the Alliance.”_

_Still, Dimitri didn’t reply._

_Felix made a noise that was something like a growl. Perhaps he was angry at the lack of a response. “It’s not too late to turn around and-”_

_“We will not turn around!” Dimitri said. “There is no time for that. If you desire to join the church’s army that much, you can leave and travel there on your own.”_

_“And leave the rest of you to die without me?”_

* * *

_dimitri blaiddyd_

_war of unification_

_mad prince_

_mad prince dimitri_

_mad prince dimitri blaiddyd_

_mad prince war of unification_

“This is useless,” Dimitri muttered as he closed yet another search window on his laptop.

“This is not what we are studying in World History,” Dedue commented as he glanced at the open books Dimitri had spread on the dining room table.

“It’s self-study,” he replied automatically.

“You seem to have a vested interest in the War of Unification all of a sudden.”

“I share a name with the prince.”

“Yes, it was his name that you mistakenly wrote on your essay, was it not? Is this related to that incident?”

Dimitri flushed at the reminder. As he had been working on essays with Felix, Edelgard had wandered into the dining room and pointed out that he had somehow written ‘Dimitri Blaiddyd’ in his essay header without noticing. She had even gone so far as to question him about his own surname, to ensure that he hadn’t somehow forgotten it. Felix, for his part, had seemed mildly disturbed by it.

“... Maybe.” He sighed. “Ever since we took that trip to the art gallery, I’ve had these… incessant dreams about the War of Unification. In which I _am_ the prince. And Edelgard is the Flame Emperor and Claude is the Master Tactician… You’re there as well. Along with a great many of our classmates and even people from the lower grades.”

“That is… an odd phenomenon. I can not say as to why you are dreaming of the war but perhaps your subconscious is simply using the faces of people you know to fill in the blanks.”

Dimitri shook his head. “That’d be logical but every face I see is older. Aged and scarred. Except for Flayn. For some reason, she’s younger. Practically a child. It wouldn’t make sense for my dreams to alter the faces I see like that.”

Dedue sat down. “I see. And you are having these dreams every night?”

“I am.”

“Hm. Is it affecting your sleep?”

“I... Somewhat,” he admitted. “The dreams can get… disturbing. When I say I dream of being the Mad Prince, I dream of his whole life. Not just the war. Though, if any of the events I dream of are at all accurate to what happened, it makes me think that Felix is right about history being a little too cruel in how it views him.”

“He _is_ most famous for leading what little remained of the Kingdom army on a suicide march to Enbarr.”

“And dying at Gronder Field. I’m aware.”

“Can I ask what you are hoping to accomplish with your research?”

“I… I don’t know. I just know that, whatever I read, something in my head says ‘that feels right’ or ‘this is wrong.’”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean that I’ll think… ‘no, it didn’t happen like that’ or ‘you’ve forgotten details.’ As if I, somehow, could know what truly happened. It’s strange.”

“So it is.

* * *

_“What are you hiding out here for?”_

_The younger one again. They stood in a courtyard. The faint sound of music could be heard from somewhere nearby._

_“I was merely getting some fresh air,” Dimitri replied. “It is rather tiring being in there.”_

_Felix scoffed. “For once. Something we can agree on. I still can’t believe we had to waste time with this.”_

_“Are you still bitter about being our representative for the White Heron Cup?”_

_“I lost, so all I did was prove that Professor Hanneman made a mistake.”_

_“Well, I think almost anyone would have lost considering the Black Eagles’ representative was Dorothea.”_

_“Still. I lost and that’s all that matters.”_

_“Funny. Most people wouldn’t see losing as an accomplishment.”_

* * *

“It is not too late to try to get involved with extracurriculars,” Seteth said, hands folded on the desk. “Well… not the sports teams or the theater. At least not if you wanted to actually go on stage. But there isn’t any reason why any of the other clubs couldn’t accept a new member.”

Dimitri rested his hand on his chin. He was unreasonably bored, as he usually was when he got called into Seteth’s office.

“How long do you intend to put off preparing for your future? I am here to guide you, Dimitri, but I can only help if you’re willing to put forth the effort.”

“I just… I freeze up whenever I have to think about it.”

It was an odd phenomenon. There was some part of Dimitri that would tell him that there was no point in considering what he wanted to do with his life. That his life had been laid out for him since birth, despite being patently untrue. Maybe it was just that he was making excuses for his own indecisiveness.

“I see. Regardless, you need to consider these things. You will graduate soon and yet you’ve not made any plans for afterward.”

“I’m well aware.”

Seteth frowned as his glasses fell down the bridge of his nose. “You should know, Dimitri, how precious life is. I’m not sure you realize how wasteful it would be not to live it to the fullest. One will not get another chance to live.”

That sounded like one of those wall decorations you could find in the home decor section of stores. Dimitri opened his mouth to say something but paused when he spotted the distant look in Seteth’s eyes.

“Are you all right, sir?”

“I am fine.” He sighed, looking immensely tired of all a sudden. “You’re free to go if you wish.”

He didn’t need a second invitation to get out of the school. He found Felix standing by the school gates, waving off Flayn, who was walking off with her aunt Rhea. Despite what people said, he really _wasn’t_ jealous. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what made the two of them so close.

“Is something wrong?” Felix asked, finally noticing him.

“It’s nothing.” He paused. “I had guidance counseling again.”

“Ah. Seteth getting on your case for not having any extracurriculars or even a vague idea of what you want to do with your life?”

“Yes but… he said something strange this time. Started saying something about not getting a second chance at life or whatever.”

“A ‘second chance at life,’ huh?” Felix pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “That sounds like something he’d say.”

“It’s not just that. He got all… weird when he said it.”

“Maybe you remind him of someone who died or something. It’s probably none of your business.”

“Felix-”

“I’m hungry. Are you hungry? Let’s get something to eat. I’ll pay.”

He didn’t wait for a response before walking out the gates. Dimitri paused before following. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Felix was trying to keep him from realizing something. But what?

* * *

_Felix had run up the central hill, towards the ballista. If they didn’t take it out, their pegasus knights would all go down. Ingrid already had._

_Still, Dimitri pressed on._

_From the corner of his one good eye, he could see the redhead - the one that he had never met in reality but his mind still supplied the man’s name as Sylvain - confronting that Imperial mage dressed in black. Dedue - the older one, with the scarred face - was trying to fend off one of those beasts with his men. Annette and the priestess -_ **_Mercedes_ ** _, his mind said - were trying to cut through cavalry and armored soldiers. The best thing would be to turn around and help them. Or call for a retreat._

_Still, Dimitri pressed on._

_His focus was solely on the woman in red. This dream’s white-haired mockery of his beloved sister. Of all people, why would his dream choose_ **_her_ ** _to fill the role of the prince’s hated enemy?_

_The center hill exploded into a massive ball of fire. Felix was still on it. Annette screamed._

* * *

A splash of cold water hit his face.

Dimitri spluttered as he pushed himself up onto his elbows. Standing over him was Edelgard in her pajamas, holding a water bottle, the contents of which she had evidently just poured onto him. The door of his bedroom stood open, with the hallway light on.

“What was that for?”

“You were making enough noise to wake up Dedue and me both. You’re lucky we’re the _only_ people you woke up.”

“... Sorry.”

She grabbed his arm and forcefully pulled him out of the bed. “Come on. Downstairs. Dedue and I need to talk to you.”

He reluctantly allowed himself to be led downstairs, where Dedue had evidently been brewing tea. He’d even pulled out the cookies that had been his latest creation from the cooking club.

“What’s this about?” Dimitri asked once they were sitting at the dining table, eyeing the clock. It was somewhere after midnight. “Can we not do this in the morning?”

“No,” Edelgard replied. “Dedue told me about the dreams you’ve been having.”

“What? When?”

“Just now.”

“Considering the noise you were making in your sleep, it seemed appropriate to tell her,” Dedue said.

“I’d been wondering what your erratic behavior lately reminded me of and I’ve realized it now,” Edelgard said. “You’re reminding me of Felix, four years ago.”

“Felix?” Dedue asked.

“Right, you don’t know about…” She rubbed her temples. “You have to promise not to let him know that I told you. It’s rude to talk about someone behind their backs but… four years ago, Felix was almost an entirely different person than he is now. More… I don’t know… vulnerable? Friendly?”

“What does this have to do with Dimitri’s behavior?”

“One day, Felix started acting strangely,” Dimitri added.

“He started complaining about… odd dreams,” Edelgard said. “And it was also around that time that he stopped liking me for some reason. I mean, he puts on a good show of politeness but… he used to be my friend as much as he was Dimitri’s. Now he just tolerates my presence. You’ve been avoiding me, Dimitri. Whether you realize it or not.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Yes. You have. You don’t notice you’re doing it but I do. And these dreams… It’s exactly what Felix was doing and then he...”

“He what?” Dedue asked again. “Please, finish.”

“Felix’s behavior got stranger and stranger,” Dimitri said. “Then, one day, he had a breakdown in class. He was pulled out of school for almost two weeks. They said it was stress from schoolwork but that never seemed right. Regardless, when he came back, he was like an entirely different person.”

“It wasn’t until Flayn transferred over that he started acting more like he used to,” Edelgard said. “He was never the same, though. I always got the sense that they know something the rest of us don’t but I never wanted to pry.”

“Are you doing this because you’re concerned I’m going to end up the way Felix did?”

“I… don’t know. You’re worrying me, Dimitri.”

He shook his head. “I’m… Well, I’m not fine. But I’m coping. I think.”

“You can talk to us if you need to,” Dedue said.

“It’s fine. I don’t even know what I’d say.” He gave a weak smile. “Besides, I don’t want to bother you.”

“I am living with you for the entire school year and we are friends. It would be wrong to not try to help if you are having trouble.”

“And I’m your sister.”

“I’ll… keep that in mind.”

* * *

_This was a battle but not the same one as usual. Dimitri and the others were the younger versions of themselves. The student versions. Byleth was there, holding a sword glowing red as she called out commands. Something on her face looked as if someone had hurt her, emotionally._

_The invading army wore familiar red uniforms. The same one the enemy always wore._

_“Boar,” Felix said. “I hope you’re not planning on charging in recklessly. If you die here, Faerghus will basically have lost the war before it’s even begun.”_

_“I will not die until I’ve killed her,” Dimitri muttered._

_“You really_ **_have_ ** _lost it.”_

* * *

The park was fairly busy given the time of day and the fact that it was a weekend but Dimitri was somehow still surprised when he ran into Felix, who was apparently running laps around the park. It made sense that he’d choose that park. It was closest to both their houses but Dimitri hadn’t been expecting to encounter anyone he knew.

Felix was dressed in his workout clothes as he sat down on the bench next to him. There was hair clinging to his face and neck. Dimitri idly thought that he looked unfairly attractive for someone who was objectively a sweaty, disgusting mess.

“You look like you haven’t slept in forever,” he said.

“It’s those dreams. They’re getting… worse. Clearer.”

Something akin to panic briefly flashed across Felix’s face before he forcefully settled it back to a neutral expression. “What did you dream about this time?”

“A school. Where the teachers trained us to use weapons. Swords and spears and axes and bows… Magic, even. I’ve dreamed of it before but, as I said, they’re getting clearer. If the dreams are really of the War of Unification, then it seems likely that the dreams are of the Officer’s Academy that used to be held at Garreg Mach. The books say most of the war’s major leaders attended it. In the same year, even.”

“You’ve been doing _research_.”

“Considering what I’m dreaming about, it seemed appropriate.”

“... I suppose.” He shook his head. “Your dreams are just dreams, Dimitri. They don’t _mean_ anything.”

“You seem quite insistent on that point. Why?”

“It’s nothing, Dimitri.”

* * *

_"Tomorrow’s the day,” Felix said. “We stand no chance against the Empire as is and we have no idea what the Alliance is doing.”_

_“I told you,” Dimitri said. “You may leave if you wish but I will not turn around.”_

_“And I told you: I’m not leaving you to die without me.”_

_“Do as you wish.”_

* * *

“Thanks for your help,” Marianne said as Dimitri set the last case of canned cat food down in the storage room of the local animal shelter. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to get all that from the store even with the wagon.”

“... That’s a lot of cat food.”

“We have a lot of cats. It was very kind of the store to donate so much.”

Edelgard tossed a 20-kg bag of dry food on top of the pile. “Truly. A lot of cat food.”

“Ah!” Flayn’s voice said the entranceway. “You have brought it! Marianne, the director wished to speak to you. I will take over sorting the food. These three can help.”

“You mean we’re not done?” Claude asked as Marianne left.

“I’m logging this as volunteer hours,” Edelgard said.

“Do you not have enough, princess?”

“They look good on college applications. I would think you, of all people, would wish for me to succeed in life.”

“What have I said about doing this where I can see?” Dimitri asked.

Flayn giggled. “I always find it so charming that you two are together. Life truly is full of surprises sometimes.”

“Hey. Stay out of our business,” Edelgard said.

“Ah! My apologies. It is simply- No, never mind. But it is fortuitous that you three are friends. You do share names with those who once tore Fodlan apart through war, after all.”

“We know,” Claude said. “It’s weird.”

“Don’t you dare start on the reincarnation thing again,” Dimitri muttered. He didn’t want to even think about it, in part because he was starting to feel that maybe it wasn’t all nonsense.

“‘The reincarnation thing?’” Flayn asked. “Could you perhaps be speaking of the legend of the goddess’ wish?”

“You know what we’re talking about?” Edelgard asked.

“Yes. It’s a legend that I am _quite_ familiar with. Basically, during the War of Unification, the goddess - or, someone with the power of the goddess - walked amongst humans. As a teacher. And her students were those who would go on to fight in the war as key figures. Among them, Princess Edelgard, Prince Dimitri, and Claude, the grandson of the sovereign of the Leicester Alliance. Edelgard and Claude both went on to claim their titles but Dimitri was never given a chance to be crowned.”

“Calling them by our names will keep being weird,” Claude said.

“Anyway, the goddess sided against the Empire but did not join up with the Kingdom or Alliance. The result was that… the students all died in the war. Every last one of them. They were children and then they were soldiers and then they were dead.” Flayn looked incredibly sad as she spoke. “But the goddess said… that would not do. I do not think even she was aware of her own power but the legend states that she demanded her beloved students be one day given a second chance at life, under better circumstances.”

“But the church has always said that-” Dimitri said.

“That those who die will go on to live with the goddess in the heavens, yes. But this is a bit of a special case. The goddess herself wished for this lot to be reborn. And besides, it is not as though we should not question the church’s teachings. As I recall, that was _quite_ a central point of the War of Unification in the first place.”

“Do you believe it, Flayn?” Edelgard asked

Flayn smiled serenely. “I believe,” she said, “that if you really were their reincarnations and that you did eventually remember that, the best thing you could do would be to live your life to the fullest. And… to keep your friends close. Perhaps they might someday remember, too. Or perhaps they already have.”

* * *

_Byleth’s face was sad._

_Dimitri’s body felt light. Nonexistent, even. Where was he? A town, it seemed. It was nighttime. Where were the others? Dedue? Felix? Even the others that the Dimitri of reality didn’t know that well, if at all._

_It was just him and Byleth._

_“I’m sorry, Dimitri,” she muttered. “I wish it didn’t all turn out like this. I wish… I wish you all could have been born in better times.”_

_Footsteps sounded from somewhere behind Byleth and suddenly Dimitri was gone, to some other, dark place._

_Ah. So that was it._

* * *

“I’m here,” Felix said, looking irritated and tired. It was still early morning and the park was empty. “What was _so_ urgent that it couldn’t wait until later?”

“Your efforts to keep me from realizing the significance of my dreams didn’t help, Felix.”

A shadow passed over Felix’s face, then his shoulders slumped. “You remember.” It’s a statement. A fact. An admission of defeat.

“I do. All of it. Why did you not want me to remember?”

“Why would I _want_ you to? These memories changed me. I was scared of how they might change you.”

“Were you scared that I might become like the version of me that lived back then?”

“I was scared you’d crack under the weight of his memories. I almost cracked under the weight of my own. I thought, for a long time, that maybe I had just lost it completely. I didn’t dare tell another soul because I knew nobody would understand until Flayn showed up and she _knew_ and I-”

“Felix… It’s a good thing that I remember.”

He looked ready to cry. Tears of anger and fear and concern for someone he loved. “How can it be a good thing?”

“Because you don’t have to bear those memories alone. Flayn and the others… they weren’t there. Not at Gronder Field. They couldn’t truly understand what happened to us.”

“No. I guess not.”

“I have to ask, though. You fought the decision to march to Gronder every step of the way. Why did you insist on staying?”

“Take your pick of reasons. I would have been a deserter. Maybe some wild part of me hoped we could win. I had nothing left to return home to. But most of all… I would have had to leave you behind.”

“Is that so?”

“Even back then, you were always… so important to me. Not just because you were the future king but just… because you were Dimitri.”

“I still am.”

Felix gave a weak grin. “I know.”


End file.
